The Child Justice Advocacy Group calls on the government of the Philippines to reject proposals to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility

Civil society organizations call on the Senate and Government of the Philippines to refrain from adopting reforms to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to nine.

This reform would be an abdication of the Philippines’ commitment under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and would not be an effective way of addressing crime committed by children. The

Committee on the Rights of the Child has called on States to progressively raise the age of criminal responsibility, and has made it clear that a minimum age of criminal responsibility of nine is not internationally acceptable.